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Friday, November 15, 2013

Starlooks - November 2013

RETURN TO MONACO

French Riviera, Monte Carlo, Mediterranean Sea.....sound like your cup of tea? Then you may love, love, love this month's Starlook's Starbox! Take a Return to Monaco with some fun, fresh and sassy products. You can jump on a yacht, and lounge out on a deck chair with a drink in hand with a fabulous face of Starlooks.

If you missed my Starlook's Starbox sneak peek for November, here is the link -

I LOVED this month's Looks Book photos, the makeup was SO bright, fun, rich and chic. I love, love, love color. I seriously do not shy away from the unexpected! Looks like my shadow guesses were super close! Wait till you see the pretties in this month's box!....

I received: a eyeshadow 5 shade palette, a makeup brush, eyeliner pot, and an eyeliner sharpener

Off to the review!....

5 SHADE SHADOW PALETTE

in Monaco

"Lauched exclusively in your November Starbox, Starlooks introduces this daring combination of classic shadow colors, ranging from neutral to bold & matte to satin. Tap into your inner artist and try all 5 together, or use a blend of your choice to add a colorful, yet elegant accent to your fall wardrobe." - from 2013 November Starbox card

How PRETTY is this palette?! Like I said, I ADORE color, and this palette is packing! As you can see, it has 5 shades, ranging in matte, satins and shimmer.

It contains a white matte, a nude-brown satin, a matte navy blue, a matte bright orange-red and a satin-shimmer yellow gold.

This is my 2nd 5 shade palette from Starlooks - the first I received in my July Starbox - and I must say I LOVE this one so much more than the first!

As much as I love the color, one thing I'll say about Starlook's mattes is that they can be very dry and they're not very pigmented. It took four good swipes to get the color you see here for the white, navy and orange-red. The nude-brown did not need four swipes HOWEVER, the gold didn't really show up at all with four swipes dry! Over NYX's Jumbo Pencil in Milk, it was MUCH, MUCH better. Look at that orange-red pop! The white was more easily seen, and the gold became much more pigmented. I would definitely say that their mattes always need a good primer and NYX's Jumbo Pencil in Milk in the best I've seen, but if you want something a bit more subtle but still with some visible color, you could just use a primer like Urban Decay's Primer Potion. Their satins don't necessarily need a primer though, if you look at my first palette review in July, you can see more satins similar to this nude-brown in pigmentation. I really wish the navy shade wasn't quite as patchy, since it's such a pretty color! I had quite a bit of trouble with Starlook's black matte shade in the other palette and although this navy is a tad better, I love their brighter shades so much more.

INFINITY POT LINER

in Orion

"This long-wear liner has a hint of sultry jade and adds the perfect finish to any bold or neutral eye look. Apply along the lash line using a slanted liner brush or use as a cream shadow!" - from 2013 November Starlooks card

Another item I was excited to receive! I typically use pencil eyeliners and I neglect pot eyeliners so often and oh my, how could I! They are such a joy to apply! You can get the crispest line and if the product is good quality, the most vibrant edgy slash of color.

This like one! How GORGEOUS is this color? I die. It's a deep teal tinted blue....in fact, speaking of Monaco, it definitely reminds me of the Mediterranean Sea. The formula is super smooth, creamy and very easy to apply. What's awesome about it is that if you make a mistake when applying you can wipe it off easily with a q-tip but the formula is still strong enough to last all day. In fact, I am wearing it at this very moment, and have had it on for 8 hours both above my eyelashes and on my waterline and it hasn't budged an INCH! Ready for this? That's with a primer but WITHOUT a setting spray! I'm usually a big stickler for setting spray but I rushed out of the house and forgot it. This has easily become my new favorite eyeliner! Each of these swatch lines is done with one swipe and you can see how beautifully pigmented it is, not streaky at all, but you could add another layer to slightly darken the color.

BRUSH

SLANTED LINER #824

"Everyone needs this - a staple liner brush designed specifically to achieve an impeccable eye line with advanced, PRO precision." - from 2013 November Starbox card

Could I possibly say no to a new makeup brush? OF COURSE NOT! Haha! Definitely handy in this month's box since there's there's an eyeliner pot....hmmmm...it's almost like Starlooks planned it ::wink wink::. Well I love this brush! Haha, I snuck it on you, believe it or not...did you guess? I used it in the eyeliner swatch picture above! Ooooooo, I'm sneaky, sneaky! It's a fantastic brush! It makes a perfect, crisp and clean thin line, and turned sideways it can make a perfect cat eye wing edge. You can also see how easily it creates beautiful curves. Happy to add this to my brush stash!

BONUS ITEM!

EYE & LIP SHARPENER

"Surprise! We've included another staple for your makeup bag - an eye and lip pencil sharpener! What makeup lover hasn't wished he/she had one of these at the opportune moment? Now you're no longer stuck without one. We're happy to be of service ;) " - from 2013 November Starbox card

While I am happy to have another eyeliner/lip liner pencil, I am a tad disappointed it's not a dual-size one. This can only be used for standard size pencil, and not jumbo. Also, it does not have a guard for shavings, so you would need to hold this over a trash can or something to catch the shavings. One can't complain too much over a freebie though! Apparently I am picky about my pencil sharpeners ::giggles:: Always good to have spares, however!

WORTH AND PURCHASE

1) 5 Shade Shadow Palette in Monaco - $41

2) Infinity Pot Liner in Orion - $13

3) Slanted Liner Brush #824 - $18

4) Eye & Lip Pencil Sharpener - $1*

Total Paid for Box: $17.68($15 sub cost + shipping)

Total Worth of Box: $73

Wonderful worth this month! I took a bit of a guess along with some research for the price of the sharpener as it's not listed on Starlook's website, so it may be off a bit, but that seems to be the average price for a single hole sharpener with no guard. With or without the sharpener though, this box is definitely a good worth! I don't know if I quite feel like the eyeshadow palette is worth $41, but I'd pay quite a bit for the Pot Liner!

FINALE

So if I were to lay out on a beautiful, slick "yar" yacht on the Mediterranean Sea a view away from Monaco with a cool drink in my hand, big floppy hat on my head and chic, airy billowy sleeved tunic on, flapping in the wind........this is the makeup look I'd wear with it...

Haha, was that a visual enough build-up for you? For this look I decided to go edgy and artsy since I was inspired by the bright, vivid colors and crisp lines I could create with the eyeliner brush. I had a bit of a Cleopatra moment, because if she was out on a yacht in Monaco, oh you know she'd rock the edgy double wing!

Orion is AMAZING, I told you, this may be my favorite eyeliner ever....ever. It glides on so well on your waterline and is super creamy on the eyelid.

For the look I used the matte white shade in the inner corners of my eyes as well as right under my eyebrows for highlighting, then I blended the nude brown all over the lid, and lightly dusted the gold right over it for soft shimmer. Then I added the bright orange-red on the outer edge of my eyes, added the double wing and lightly patted on the navy shadow on the outer part of my waterline to set Orion.